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pharyngula | March 30, 2006Our speaker at Tuesday's Café Scientifique, Nic McPhee, has a blog, and gives the speaker's side of the event. He's exactly right that our big problem out here is improving community involvement, and getting some interaction with the townie side is going to be one of my goals in setting up next year's series.
pharyngula | March 28, 2006We're having another Café Scientifique here in Morris this evening—come on down! Nic McPhee of the Computer Science discipline (who also has a weblog, Unhindered by Talent) will be discussing "Privacy, security, and cryptography: What happens to your credit card number on-line, and is that e-mail really from your boss?". It is open to everyone, of course, and is being held at the local coffeeshop, the Common Cup, from 6:00 to 8:00 this evening.
pharyngula | March 7, 2006DFLers, today is the day for the precinct caucuses. Here in Morris, we're meeting in Old Number One Southside at 7 PM—be there! Most importantly, Pete Wyckoff is running for the chairmanship of the Stevens County DFL party. We need to get a scientist elected for the position, since this is our first step in American domination, which will culminate in the election of a philosopher-king to run the country.
First Stevens County, Minnesota…then the world!
pharyngula | March 2, 2006Never mind me, I'm running around with classes and meetings today…here are a few quick links.
The 29th Skeptics' Circle.
The Tildification of Norwegianity.
The Terry Writing Challenge—there's real money involved.
An in-depth interview with PZ Myers.
I and the Bird.
Intelligent Design subverts itself.
An example of the research promise of ID.
Don't trust the NIH.
The Carnival of the Liberals.
pharyngula | February 28, 2006
Followers of that hateful lunatic, Fred Phelps, have been making the news for picketing military funerals in Minnesota. Apparently, because the US tolerates (sorta) homosexuality, they feel that they should hit up random funerals and cuss out the dead for dying for homosexuality. Now our state legislators are considering laws to block that kind of behavior, because it "flies in the face of Minnesota values." The values they're talking about aren't tolerance, though, but simply an opposition to meddling with the military.
Eva makes a very good point: the Republican leadership in this state…
pharyngula | February 27, 2006Via Jim Lippard, here's a nice, positive article on the Cafe Scientifique movement, which tries to make science informal and accessible to anyone. We're doing it again tomorrow, in which I get to be the presenter and talk about "Why all the fuss about evolution?" I hope I don't turn anyone off with my atheist schtick, in which I clean, fillet, fricassee, and eat a baby on stage.*
*Well, actually, looking at my talk, I don't seem to actually mention atheism anywhere. I suspect that when the audience notices my horns and tail, though, they might ask about it—so I'll come prepared for the Q…
pharyngula | February 20, 2006You'd think they'd freeze solid or something, and not really be a threat until the spring thaw. Now there's video footage of zombies rampaging across a frozen lake, so I guess maybe we should be concerned.
pharyngula | February 19, 2006Here's the difference between me and Michael Bérubé: he gets labeled a dangerous radical and profiled in David Horowitz's new book, while all I get is amild squeak in our weekly campus newspaper and our local conservative rag.
While perusing the UMM main page, I happened upon the website http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula which belongs to UMM's own Professor of Biology Dr. Meyers. Upon closer inspection I found content relating to my religious beliefs that offended me beyond belief. Not only was this speech sacrilegious and offensive, but it was readily available to anyone who happens across…
pharyngula | February 17, 2006It's -16°F (-26°C) out there, with 15-20mph winds…so we've got a windchill of about -40°. It's about time we had some bracing brisk weather around here.
pharyngula | February 13, 2006That was my first thought when I read this entry, but then I noticed that the clotted, precious style didn't quite fit. My next though was a horrific one: Lileks is guest posting on Creek Running North? Say it isn't so! It's bad enough that he's there every time I open the Star Tribune!
Ah, but no, fortunately it's just a pitch-perfect satire.
If you don't like Lileks' cutesie dribblings, you must read this.
For those wondering who the heck Lileks is, he's a columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, famous for two qualities: 1) he's one of those pissed-pants conservatives who totally lost…
pharyngula | February 11, 2006So did everyone tune in?
It was a middling show. He said good things about UMM and well, honest things about Morris, so I'm not going to complain about that.
As usual, the gospel music gives me the heebie-jeebies, but I just content myself with the knowledge that I was listening to a pleasant shadow of the richness the composers and musicians would have produced, if only their talent hadn't been tainted with the rot of religiosity.
I sat next to Skatje, who looked weary with the burden of accompanying a pair of old fogeys to listen to some other old fogies act out skits and music that were…